3rd Grade - Gateway 1
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Focus & Coherence
Gateway 1 - Partially Meets Expectations | 64% |
|---|---|
Criterion 1.1: Focus | 2 / 2 |
Criterion 1.2: Coherence | 4 / 4 |
Criterion 1.3: Coherence | 3 / 8 |
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 enVisions Math 2.0 partially meet the expectations for Gateway 1. The materials meet the expectations for focusing on the major work of the grade, but they do not meet the expectations for coherence. Some strengths were found and noted in the coherence criterion as the instructional materials partially met some of the expectations for coherence. Overall, the instructional materials allocate enough time to the major work of the grade for Grade 3, but the materials do not always meet the full depth of the standards.
Criterion 1.1: Focus
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for assessing grade-level content. Overall, the instructional materials can be modified without substantially affecting the integrity of the materials so that they do not assess content from future grades within the assessments provided.
Indicator 1a
The assessment materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations for focus within assessment. Content from future grades was found to be introduced; however, above grade-level assessment items, and their accompanying lessons, could be modified or omitted without significantly impacting the underlying structure of the instructional materials.
Probability, statistical distributions, and/or similarity, transformations and congruence do not appear in the Grade 3 materials.
The series is divided into topics and each topic has a topic assessment and a topic performance assessment. Additional assessments include a placement test found in Topic 1, four cumulative/benchmark assessments, and a End-of-Year Assessment.
The assessments have items which assess future grade-level standards.
- Topic 1 topic assessment question 7 requires interpreting remainders (4.OA.3).
- In Topic 2 topic assessment, problems 4 and 11 have students identifying multiples of a number, a Grade 4 grade standard (4.OA.4), and question 13 requires interpreting remainders (4.OA.3).
- Topic 4 topic assessment questions 3 and 10 require interpreting remainders (4.OA.3).
- Topics 1-4 cumulative benchmark assessment problem 2 assesses multiples of a number, a Grade 4 standard (4.OA.4) and problem 22 assesses factors at the Grade 4 level (4.OA.4).
- Topics 1-8 cumulative benchmark assessment problem 6 assesses multiples of a number, a Grade 4 standard (4.OA.4).
- Topic 12 topic assessment question 5 includes improper fractions which is a Grade 4 standard.
- Topic 14 topic assessment problems 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 and performance assessment problems 1 and 3 assess knowing relative sizes within a measurement system, a Grade 4 standard (4.MD.1).
- Topic 15 topic assessment problem 4 and performance assessment problems 2, 3, 4 and 7 assess parallel lines, a Grade 4 standard (4.G.1).
- Topics 1-16 cumulative benchmark assessment problem 7 assesses the fraction 1/5, a Grade 4 fraction; problems 12 and 26 assess parallel lines, 4.G.1; and problem 21 assesses knowing relative sizes within a measurement system (4.MD.1).
- The end-of-year assessment problem 12 assesses knowing relative sizes within a measurement system (4.MD.1).
The off-grade level items could be removed without affecting the sequence of learning for the students or the mathematical integrity of the materials.
Notes:
- Topic 1 topic assessment question 3 does not require students to do any mathematics.
- Topic 1 includes basic facts timed tests but do not include directions on how or when to use them. Additionally, the addition and subtraction set do not go beyond 20, which is the Grade 2 fluency 2.OA.2.
Criterion 1.2: Coherence
Students and teachers using the materials as designed devote the large majority of class time in each grade K-8 to the major work of the grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for focus on the major clusters of each grade. Students and teachers using the materials as designated will devote the majority of class time to major clusters of the grade.
Indicator 1b
Instructional material spends the majority of class time on the major cluster of each grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for focus within major clusters. Overall, the instructional materials spend the majority of class time on the major clusters of each grade.
To determine this, three perspectives were evaluated: 1) the number of topics devoted to major work, 2) the number of lessons devoted to major work, and 3) the number of days devoted to major work. The number of days is the same as the number of lessons. A lesson level analysis is more representative of the instructional materials than a topic level analysis because the number of lessons within each topic is inconsistent. and we drew our conclusion based on that data.
Grade 3 enVison Math 2.0 includes 16 topics with 110 lessons. At the topic level, ten of the 16 focus on major work. Two of the 16 focus on supporting work and are supporting the major work of the grade, and four of the 16 topics focus on supporting work without supporting the major work. Approximately 75 percent of the topics are focused on major work. As mentioned above, a lesson level analysis is more representative of the instructional materials than a topic level analysis because the number of lessons within each topic is inconsistent. At the lesson level 69 lessons focus on major work, 12 lessons focus on supporting work and continue major work of the grade, 20 lessons focus on the supporting work without connecting to the major work, and 9 lessons focus on off grade level topics. At the lesson level approximately 73 percent of the lessons focus on major work, approximately 18 percent of the lessons focus on supporting work, and approximately 8 percent of the lessons focus on off grade-level topics.
Criterion 1.3: Coherence
Coherence: Each grade's instructional materials are coherent and consistent with the Standards.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 do not meet the expectations for being coherent and consistent with CCSSM. The instructional materials do not have enough materials to be viable for a school year and do not always meet the depth of the standards. The majority of instructional materials do not have supporting content enhancing focus and coherence simultaneously but do have objectives which are clearly shaped by the CCSSM. Overall, the instructional materials for Grade 3 do not exhibit enough characteristics of coherence.
Indicator 1c
Supporting content enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 partially meet expectations that supporting content enhances focus and coherence by engaging students in the major work of the grade. Some of the supporting work is treated separately and does not support the major work of the grade, and many natural connections are missed. The following details supporting work in the instructional materials.
- Topic 7 is focused on classifying data and somewhat supports the major work of the grade in multiplication.
- Topics 8 and 9 are focused on addition and subtraction within 1000 and are treated separately from the major work of the grade.
- Topic 10 is focused on multiplying by 10s and does support the major work of the grade.
- Topic 15 is focused on describing and comparing measurable attributes. This topic is treated separately and does not support the major work of the grade. In these supporting cluster lessons, students are not asked to partition shapes (3.NF.1).
- Topic 16 is focused on perimeter. About half the lessons are treated separately from major work, and about half support major work with area. Lessons 16.4, 16.5 and 16.6 connect to the major work of the grade (3.MD.C).
Indicator 1d
The amount of content designated for one grade level is viable for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades.
The amount of content designated for one grade level is not viable for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades. The pacing guide assumes one lesson per day as stated on page TP-23A. The enVison Math 2.0 Grade 3 program consists of 110 lessons, grouped in 16 topics. Assessments are not included in this count; if the 16 days of assessment are added in this would bring the count to 127 days. This is still below the standard school year of approximately 140-190 days of instruction. Significant modifications by the teacher would need to be made to the program materials to be viable for one school year.
Indicator 1e
Materials are consistent with the progressions in the Standards i. Materials develop according to the grade-by-grade progressions in the Standards. If there is content from prior or future grades, that content is clearly identified and related to grade-level work ii. Materials give all students extensive work with grade-level problems iii. Materials relate grade level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 partially meet the expectations for being consistent with the progressions in the standards. Overall, the materials give students extensive work with grade-level problems and relate grade-level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades, but the materials do not reach the full depth of the standards and do not always clearly identify work that is off grade level.
Material related to future grade-level content is not clearly identified or related to grade level work. The exception is the topic titled "Step up to 4th grade" where the materials are clearly identified as Grade 4 materials. The Grade 3 materials have some instances where future grade-level content is present and not identified as such. For example, lessons 13-5, 13-6 and 13-8 focus on comparing fractions with different numerators and denominators (4.NF.2).
The content does not always meet the full depth of the standards. This occurs due to a lack of lessons addressing the full depth of standards. For example:
- Students learn multiplication facts for 0, 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 in 5 lessons in Topic 2. There are eight lessons to learn multiplication facts for 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8.
- 3.OA.8 has four lessons addressing two-step problems using the four operations, lessons 11-1 to 11-4.
- When looking at 3.NF.A, developing an understanding of fractions as numbers, there are thirteen lessons, and three of those lessons focus on fractions and the number line.
- Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects are major work of third grade, but in these materials, these topics are taught at the end of the year in 9 lessons in Topic 14.
The materials extensively work with grade-level problems, for example:
- All students complete grade-level materials, and suggestions for re-teaching and intervention are included with each lesson and at the end of each topic.
- Online resources include extra, on-level and advanced-practice materials.
- A mathematics and science project is available for each topic taught.
- Homework practice problems are identified in the teacher edition as intervention, on-level, and advanced.
- The numbers of topics focusing on Grade 3 domains are as follows: 3 out of 16 topics address number and operations in base ten; 2 out of 16 topics address number and operations - fractions; 6 out of 16 topics address operations and algebraic thinking; 4 out of 16 topics address measurement and data; and 1 out of 16 topics address geometry.
The materials relate grade-level concepts to prior knowledge within the introduction of each topic, for example:
- "Math Background: Coherence" includes "Look Back" and "Look Ahead" commentary, connecting to mathematics that came earlier in Grade 3, explaining connections to the content within the topic, and explaining what will come later in Grades 3 and 4. An example can be found on pages 605c-605d for Topics 12 and 13.
- Individual lessons also include coherence headings. An example is in lesson 12-1 on page 609A that includes the heading, "Coherence: In this lesson, students extend the work they did in Topic 6 with unit squares and area as they begin more extensive work with fractions as numbers. The lesson explores...".
- In lesson 3.1, for 3.OA.5, students extend their multiplication knowledge by splitting arrays into two smaller arrays to write equations and explore the distributive property.
- In lesson 7.1, for 3.MD.3, the connection to multiplication when using scaled bar graphs is made.
Indicator 1f
Materials foster coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the Standards i. Materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings. ii. Materials include problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain, or two or more domains in a grade, in cases where these connections are natural and important.
The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 partially meet the expectations for fostering coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the standards. Overall, the materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings, but the materials lack problems and activities that connect two or more clusters in a domain or two more domains in the grade.
The materials are designed at the cluster level, and this design feature is represented throughout the material in the form of a color-coded wheel identifying the cluster focus of each unit. The materials include learning objectives which are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings, and the Topic Planner at the beginning of each topic has an example of this.
- The focus of Topic 14 is 3.MD.A: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects. Lesson objectives in Topic 14 include: L3 - Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction to measure quantities of time, L4 and L5 - Use standard units to estimate liquid volume, and L6 - Use standard units to estimate the masses of solid objects.
- A similar example for Topic 12 can be found on pages 605I - 605K.
The materials for Grade 3 enVision Math 2.0 do not foster coherence through grade-level connections. Most lessons in the Grade 3 program focus within a single domain and cluster. Of 110 lessons, 76 lessons focus within a single cluster and domain.
- In Topic 1, 1 of the 7 lessons addresses standards within two clusters (3.OA.A and 3.OA.B).
- In Topic 2, 5 of the 6 lessons address standards in two or more clusters (3.OA.A, 3.OA.B, and 3.OA.D).
- In Topic 3, 6 of the 8 lessons address standards in two or more clusters (3.OA.A, 3.OA.B, and 3.OA.D).
- In Topic 4, 8 of the 9 lessons address standards in two or more clusters (3.OA.A, 3.OA.B, and 3.OA.D).
- In Topic 5, 5 of the 8 lessons address standards in two or more clusters (3.OA.A, 3.OA.C, and 3.OA.D).
- In Topic 6, 0 of the 7 lessons address standards in two or more clusters.
- In Topic 7, 5 of the 5 lessons address standards in two or more domains (3.OA and 3.MD).
- In Topic 8, 0 of the 9 lessons address standards in two or more clusters.
- In Topic 9, 0 of the 8 lessons address standards in two or more clusters.
- All of the 4 lessons within Topic 10 are within a single cluster and domain.
- All of the 4 lessons within Topic 11 are within a single cluster and domain.
- In Topic 12, 2 of the 8 lessons address standards in two domains (3.NF and 3.G).
- All of the 8 lessons within Topic 13 are within a single cluster and domain.
- All of the 9 lessons within Topic 14 are within a single cluster and domain.
- All of the 4 lessons within Topic 15 are within a single cluster and domain.
- In Topic 16, 2 of the 6 lessons address standards in two clusters (3.MD.C and 3.MD.D).